Tears (Ken Dodd song)
| "Tears" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Ken Dodd | ||||
| from the album Tears of Happiness | ||||
| B-side | "You and I" | |||
| Released | August 1965 | |||
| Format | 7", 45rpm | |||
| Genre | Easy listening | |||
| Length | 2:52 | |||
| Label | Columbia DB 7659[1] | |||
| Writer(s) | Billy Uhr, Frank Capano[1] | |||
| Producer(s) | Norman Newell[1] | |||
| Ken Dodd singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Tears" ("Tears for Souvenirs") is a song written by lyricist Frank Capano and composer Billy Uhr,[2] and was first recorded by Rudy Vallee in 1929.[3] It was made famous by Ken Dodd as a single, released in 1965. It became a No. 1 hit in the UK Singles Chart,[1] and the best selling single of 1965. The song also reached number one on the Irish Singles Chart.
Although best known as a comedian, Ken Dodd was a prolific recording artist throughout the 1960s and most of his music recordings were serious, not comic. His debut single, "Love is like a Violin" reached No. 8 in 1960.[1] There were nine more singles, several of which charted (though none of them made the top 20) between then and "Tears".[4]
The single spent 24 weeks in total on the chart, with five of those at number 1.[5] It sold over a million copies in the UK, becoming the biggest-selling single of 1965, and was the third biggest-selling single of the 1960s; it was the only non-Beatles song in the top 5.[6] In 2002 it was listed as the UK's 19th best-selling single of all time, with sales of 1,521,000.[7]
Bobby Vinton released a cover of the song in 1966. Vinton's version of the song reached No. 59 on the Billboard Hot 100,[8] while reaching No. 27 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart.[9] In Canada, Vinton's version reached No. 24 on the "RPM Play Sheet"[10] and No. 14 on RPM's "GMP Guide".[11]
The song was parodied in a section of the song "I'm Bored" by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band on their album Gorilla (1967).
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 96. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
- ↑ Official Charts Company, "Million Sellers", Music Sales Group, November 20, 2012. Accessed October 24, 2015
- ↑ "The Unswinging Sixties". BBC News. 2010-06-03. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
- ↑ "Ken Dodd". 45-rpm.org.uk. 1927-11-08. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
- ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 183–4. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ↑ "Ken Dodd 'third best-selling artist of 1960s'". BBC News (BBC). 1 June 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
- ↑ Morgan-Gan, Theo (2002). "The UK's Best Selling Singles". UK Charts Home Page. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
- ↑ Bobby Vinton - Chart History - The Hot 100, Billboard.com. Accessed October 21, 2015
- ↑ Bobby Vinton - Chart History - Adult Contemporary, Billboard.com. Accessed October 21, 2015
- ↑ "R.P.M. Play Sheet", RPM, Volume 5, Ed. 3, March 13, 1966. Accessed October 24, 2015
- ↑ "GMP Guide", RPM, Volume 5, Ed. 3, March 14, 1966. Accessed October 24, 2015
| Preceded by "Make It Easy on Yourself" by The Walker Brothers |
UK number one single (by Ken Dodd) 30 September 1965 (5 weeks) |
Succeeded by "Get off of My Cloud" by The Rolling Stones |